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We Share Some Startling Facts About Homelessness

One Day At A Time Philanthropy, Inc. is a family-owned private foundation established in 2015 to find ways to help chronically homeless individuals and at-risk pets. Sherri McCabe, seeing the large number of individuals ending up among the homeless each year, wanted to do something to help. She wanted to make a difference, especially in helping to meet the complex needs of the chronically homeless.

Homelessness in the United States is a national concern. As many as 3.5 million Americans are homeless every year for a variety of reasons and sadly, more than 1 million of them are children. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, homeless Veterans make up about 8 percent of the total number of homeless individuals. Hundreds of thousands of these people spend the night at homeless shelters, or on the streets, because they have nowhere else to go. A report was done by Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), showing the number of homeless individuals on a given night in January of 2015. To be specific, in Part 1 of this report,The 2015 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress , stated that in January 2015, on a single night, there were 564,708 homeless people in the United States.

The chronically homeless are a subset of the total homeless population. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a person is defined as being chronically homeless if that individual has been continuously homeless for a year or more with a disability, or an individual that has experienced homelessness four or more different times within the last three years and has a disability. In HUD’s 2015 Annual Homeless Assessment Report , there were 83,170 chronically homeless individuals in the United States on a single night in January 2015. Thankfully, due to numerous intervention methods implemented across the nation, that number is lower than it has been in past years.

The Chronically Homeless Face Many Challenges

There are a number of factors that inhibit the progress of the chronically homeless. These individuals often miss appointments that could help them get much needed social service benefits. This is because they have great difficulty performing what we consider to be a normal daily routine. They often don’t know what day or time it is, and have difficulty getting transportation to these appointments. Many of them aren’t sober for very long, or aren’t able to become sober. Because of that, they have a hard time keeping track of what’s going on, and being able to attend sobriety programs. In addition to that, another factor that prevents the chronically homeless from receiving services, could be that they lack the family support to assist them during challenging times. With the fear of not getting any support from their family members, they often sink deeper and deeper into a state of utter hopelessness.

Finding Solutions to Help Homeless People and Pets

Our Foundation is committed to finding solutions – solutions that are practical, that are feasible, and that can make a difference! Our goal is to provide permanent supportive housing for the chronically homeless, a place they can call home for as long as they live.

It is our desire to provide permanent, supportive housing, to meet the various needs of these chronically homeless individuals. The hope is that this may help them regain some degree of daily living skills. The approach is not to force change on anyone, but to help them, on their terms, so the changes they make will be lasting ones. This assistance will help these homeless individuals take one small step at a time in the right direction, not making demands for them to show sudden change or stripping them of what they’ve learned in order to survive. Furthermore, implementing these methods is with the hope of bringing them one step closer to what society considers a normal standard of living. The goal is to meet them where they are, and help them move forward, one day at a time.

We also desire to provide services to assist at-risk pets who otherwise would not have helpful services available to them. Many at-risk pets have joined the homeless numbers as well – but for different reasons, and few people realize how many pets are homeless each year. They roam around almost in a helpless state. Often times, many of them were once a member of a family – and suddenly they are not.

Our Partnering Corporation to Help the Homeless

We plan to raise funds for these causes through our partnering corporation, Continuing Education Online, LLC. This is an e-learning marketplace, hosting continuing education authors and their courses for professionals to purchase. Ninety percent of their net funds will be used to develop housing to meet the specific needs of the chronically homeless, as well as causes to help at-risk pets. Sherri McCabe established Continuing Education Online, LLC as a means to support One Day At A Time Philanthropy, Inc., which is a 501 (c) (3) private foundation which will assist the homeless and at-risk pets. She also, established shelterpetadoptions.com as a resource website for those looking for organizations where they can adopt a pet, and for those searching for lost pets. Please visit our Contact Us page to link to the Continuing Education Online, LLC and Shelter Pet Adoptions websites.

We Can All Assist the Cause of Homelessness

Our services and approaches are evolving – but there is one thing that is constant, and that is our commitment to our fundamental mission, to help chronically homeless individuals and homeless pets. Please visit the Help the Homeless page on our website to get information on how to donate to help homeless individuals and pets, as well as other ways you can make a difference in your community. Each one of us can do our part to lend a hand to these often unseen people and at-risk pets.

Become Informed About Homelessness in the United States

For homelessness facts and other information regarding the challenges of homelessness in our nation, please visit the websites below.